I was eager to watch this movie when it first came out on DVD in 2004, and was quite happy to re-watch it this evening. The movie involves two of my favorite people: Johnny Depp and Stephen King. Secret Window is based on a short story by King and like most “King Movies” the book is better, but the movie has its charms.
Secret Window stars Johnny Depp as a famous author, Mort Rainey. In flashbacks, we discover Rainey and his wife are in the midst of a contentious divorce. He caught her cheating and left her. He is now living alone at their vacation home. Riddled with depression, Rainey spends his days sleeping until he is visited by a stranger making outrageous claims about plagiarism.
As the movie progresses, the stranger, played to perfection by John Turturro, threatens Mort, kills his dog and burns down the main house (where his estranged wife still lives). The stranger is just getting started and things get increasingly tense with each passing day. It is clear to everyone that Mort is cracking from the strain.
I’ll refrain from giving you the ending, but the movie illustrates the thin line between love and hate. It also shows us that sanity can be a very fleeting and fluid concept, even in the most ordinary of citizens.
Secret Window gets four stars. The novella entitled, Secret Window, Secret Garden published in the collection Four Past Midnight, provides a richer experience, but the movie is quite good. Depp and Turturro are very well cast, the pacing is quick and the shocks keep you reeling.
Michelle D. Kieffaber
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